So, Ms. Zhu, you really enjoy watching people get shy, donât you?
No wonder youâre always teasing sir.
"Having him put a flower in your hair, is that what it is?" Miss Lu suddenly asked.
"Not really, think of it as having him do it on Ah Baiâs behalf." Zhu Pingniang blinked.
"Sister, I donât think... this logic holds up, I donât understand what you mean." Miss Lu shook her head.
Because no matter how you think about it, Xu Changâan is a man. Even if he is Miss Baiâs student, Zhu Pingniang shouldnât let him put a flower in her hair. Itâs not something that can be explained away as a substitution.
"Hmm... Then I can only say that I quite like him, so I donât mind," Zhu Pingniang said.
"..." Miss Lu paused, then turned around, seeing Zhu Pingniangâs frank expression.
"So, sister, youâre willing to admit it." Miss Lu thought, she had thought Zhu Pingniang would never admit thereâs some affection for Xu Changâan.
"After all, when we get back, Iâm going to give you a beating anyway." Zhu Pingniang nodded. "Telling you doesnât really matter."
"Could you be a little gentler, so as not to interfere with my daily work? Iâm earning silver for you, sister," Miss Lu said with a pained expression.
"Spare me, saying itâs for earning me silver, yet I donât see much of it, itâs all been embezzled by you," Zhu Pingniang snorted, then her steps paused, remembering something, and she spoke.
"Ni Zi, when you were about to leave Changâan just now, did you have something you wanted to say but didnât?"
Zhu Pingniang clearly saw Miss Lu hesitating to speak when she was leaving Xu Changâan.
"Sister, you can tell even that?" Miss Lu sighed.
"Why canât I?" Zhu Pingniang frowned. "Itâs quite strange, you can even call me a bad woman to his face, yet thereâs still something you canât say?"
"Iâm also a woman, asking someone for favors requires the right atmosphere." Miss Lu lowered her head.
"So... what was it that you didnât say?" Zhu Pingniang, seeing Miss Lu lower her head in silence, asked perplexed and a bit displeased, "Did you have something to ask him? Sister, I donât understand, whatever you want, whatever you want to do... why not just tell me? Why go to an outsider?"
"Sir doesnât count as an outsider," Miss Lu instinctively replied, then softly said, "Ms. Zhu, since you know me so well, why not guess... what it was about."
"..." Zhu Pingniang thought for a moment.
Something you can ask Xu Changâan, but not tell me... could it be...
She looked at Miss Lu with a peculiar expression, "You werenât going to tell him to be more patient with me, to indulge and take care of me more, were you?"
"If I told sir that, wouldnât you hang me up for a beating?" Miss Luâs eyes twitched, looking very helpless.
Asking Xu Changâan to take more care of Zhu Pingniang?
Even if she was foolish, she couldnât be stupid enough to say that, could she?
"So, it makes sense you hesitated and didnât say it," Zhu Pingniang tilted her head, "Since itâs not that... then I canât guess."
"Itâs your hairpin," Miss Lu said.
"...?" Zhu Pingniang paused, stopping in her tracks, looking at the girl beside her who had her head down.
Miss Lu looked at her embroidered shoes, stained with water, and said softly, "When sister whimsically threw her favorite hairpin into the water, I was thinking of asking sir to help retrieve it."
The inner lake is deep, and itâs not suitable for a woman to do the job.
Any hairpin touched by other men is something Zhu Pingniang absolutely wouldnât use, so Xu Changâan is the most suitable for the job.
Therefore, she had wanted to ask Xu Changâan.
But after thinking it over, she felt that since she had already said bad things about sister, it wouldnât be good to cause sister to lose face again, so she didnât say anything.
"Just such a small matter?" Zhu Pingniang came back to her senses, her watery eyes filled with helplessness.
"I threw it in myself, I can pick it up myself, itâs just a sesame-sized matter, why are you getting hung up on it?"
Miss Lu shook her head.
"Since you threw it yourself, whatâs the logic in retrieving it yourself?"
Miss Zhu also wants to save face, doing such a thing would make her look silly.
"I donât mind at all myself, really donât know whatâs in your head," Zhu Pingniang turned her head, her pretty eyes trembling slightly in their sockets.
Getting playfully teased by her own maid inadvertently, causing this kind of cluelessness.
"At least you have a bit of conscience," Zhu Pingniang lifted the umbrella, feeling the rain on her face, and said softly, "Does your leg still hurt?"
"It hurts." Miss Lu gently kicked her leg, revealing a red whip mark on her fair calf.
"Iâll apply some medicine for you when we get back," Zhu Pingniang coldly snorted.
"Sister is really stingy," Miss Lu sighed, "Being in the Immortal Sect, it would be great if you gave me a Golden Core."
Zhu Pingniang: "..."
Indeed.
Ni Zi had touched her, and then immediately wanted to have her beaten to the ground...
"Only you, just shut your mouth for me,"
"Oh."
...
Zhu Pingniang covered her face.
She really couldnât imagine how things would be if she were to live with QinâEr and Miss Lu in the future.
Sheâs afraid it would give her a headache.
However...
Zhu Pingniang and Miss Lu walked towards Flower Moon Building, she turned her head to look at the delicate Miss Lu, pondering something.
Ah Baiâs infatuation, Xu Changâanâs infatuation, and her own maidâs infatuation...
Are these three types of infatuation the same thing?
If there are differences, where do they lie?
Zhu Pingniang thought and thought but couldnât find the answer, concluding that perhaps she too is a fickle and lustful woman after all.
"But, since Iâm from the Hehuan Sect, thatâs probably how it should be," she murmured.
"Hmm? Ms. Zhu, did I just catch that right? He... he...?" Miss Lu stopped, blushing, "You should read fewer of those unsavory books, really... whose lack of brains stash got you collecting them."
Zhu Pingniang: "..."
Indeed.
Her sect is just like that.
If Miss Lu knew she is actually considered part of the Hehuan Sectâs direct lineage now, what would her reaction be?
"Never mind, think what you want, youâll get whatâs coming to you later," Zhu Pingniang laughed.
Miss Lu: "...?"
"Back home, give me a makeover, and then Iâll deal with you," Zhu Pingniang said, squinting her eyes as she recalled sneaking a peek at Xu Changâan earlier.
Actually, the reason she came over wasnât just to pick up Miss Lu.
This rain... made her restless, she couldnât wait until the evening banquet to see Xu Changâan.
But, when she glanced from afar earlier, she didnât detect anything unusual about Xu Changâan, nor did she sense any Water Attribute Spiritual Qi emanating from him.
Even up close, she couldnât find any evidence linking the rain to him.
Yet, all possibilities pointed to him.
Setting this issue aside for now, what remained was that Miss Yun...
Zhu Pingniang furrowed her brow.
Whether it was an illusion or not, when she hid in the shadows just now, she always felt that Yun Qian, who stood dazed beside Xu Changâan... was watching her the entire time.
As if she knew Zhu Pingniang was there and could see her directly.
Was it an illusion?
Or did Xu Changâan tell her she was there?
At this moment, Zhu Pingniang felt as if Yun Qian had set her sights on her, though it was clearly herself who was targeting Yun Qian.
"Forget it." Zhu Pingniang shook her head, speaking to Miss Lu, "Itâs not important. Ni Zi, how does that saying go? Outstanding hunter, hunter..."
"The excellent hunter appears as the prey?" Miss Lu murmured, "Ms. Zhu, you should avoid those women in our building who just focus on seducing men."
They have corrupted Zhu Pingniang a little.
Zhu Pingniang: "..."
Forget it.
It must be an illusion.
Because from any perspective, Miss Yun doesnât have the qualification to compete with her.
At any rate, she is the only hunter there is.
ââ
In the room, Yun Qian was playing with the makeup case in front of her, looking at her reflection in the mirror.
Behind her, Xu Changâan couldnât help but ask.
"Miss, why are you suddenly interested in Senior Zhu?"